[Movie World - The Next Few Years]

On 26/10/2019 at 5:19 PM, Ash said:

Kids area is overdue, took my 5 year old today and he was bored after an hour, lines were pretty short, 2 hours in the park we were gone

On 27/10/2019 at 8:27 PM, MacPark said:

The need to put some money into the kids area. It used to be a such a great part of the park and its really old and average now. It never recovered from the looney tunes river ride being taken away.

On 27/10/2019 at 12:17 AM, Baconjack said:

Kids area should be the first thing MW needs to pay attention to.

^Agree completely.

Movieworld didn't need Doomsday and the villains unleashed precinct. Instead they should have used that money to completely overhaul the Kids WB land, and add a much needed major family attraction to that area.

The whole villains unleashed area was a bizarre investment IMO.  It is completely separate from all other DC attractions. The area was designed for kids/tweens, but then the anchor ride is too intimidating for most kids and has a 140cm height requirement (thus restricting many kids from riding). And on top of that, let's make the area's interactive games an up-charge experience to piss everyone off 😂

[2020 international ride announcements]

[Steel Taipan Construction - Dreamworld Mack launched roller coaster]

2 hours ago, Skeeta said:

Ardent's FY19 financial results to be released on Friday.  Will Ardent deliver the goods and layout the plan?

My only hope is that they announce an official opening date for Sky Voyager. And an explanation for the massive delay (but I doubt it). Let's get SV going, and then anything else they announce is a plus.

[Movie World Maintenance 2019]

On 17/08/2019 at 11:22 PM, Baconjack said:

Kids area needs a refurb. Give it all a new coat of paint and some theming updates with the same IP in mind. They havent added all that much in 20 years. It all looks so old now, in desperate need of a refresh.

100000% agreed. Hopefully after the New Atlantis at Seaworld, this is the next major capex project. Hopefully we see the land rethemed with a new, more up to date IP, and anchored by a new major dark ride that fills the hole that LTRR left.

1 hour ago, Skeeta said:

It's because they are treating all 3 parks as 1 park and it's getting Village into trouble waters.

^What Skeeta said. Since the introduction of the $99 (3 park) annual passes in 2009, VRTPs stopped treating MW, SW & WnW as standalone parks, but instead 1 park, over 3 locations. Movieworld became the park for thrillseekers teenagers and adults, Seaworld catered towards the families, elderly, young children, international tourists, and Wet'n'Wild........stayed the waterpark.

If you go back before 2009, you'll notice each park (individually) had attraction mixes that were more balanced. Families with young children would have enjoyed MW just as much as SW. These days, if it wasn't for the still very reasonably priced multi-park passes, families with young kids wouldn't bother visiting/buying passes to MW. Same with a group of young adults; they wouldn't bother to visit Seaworld, because movieworld has everything they need.

My hope with The New Atlantis, is that VRTPs are starting to build each park back up into a well-rounded standalone themepark. Similar to how it was prior to 2009.

 

Fun Fact: Found the prices for an Adult 3 park annual pass back in 2008 using wayback machine = $289 online. adjusted for inflation is $356. Currently locals can get a VRTP annual pass for $149. crazy.

[Movie World Maintenance 2019]

47 minutes ago, Ash said:

How long has backwards on dc been $15? Went there last week 

Not sure how long. But can confirm that the price increase is true: https://movieworld.com.au/park-info/on-ride-features#ridebackwards

[Sea World - New Ride 2020]

20 minutes ago, AlexB said:

I woodn't have a clue what they're doing.

I see what you did there. A wooden coaster for 2020 seems to be the going rumour. If that's the case, a GCI family thrill coaster (like InvadR, or, Joris en de Draak) would be a perfect fit for Seaworld. InvadR proves that a vikings theme works well with a wooden coaster. It would be cool to see the vikings revenge theme revived. What ever it is, I feel as if the 2020 attraction needs to be a major headline attraction - to fill the gap that Sea Viper/Corkscrew created when it was demolished.

[Dreamworld hires new engineering boss]

17 hours ago, Brad2912 said:

First day on the job: “this Wipeout thing is a piece of shit. Close it”. 

I thought the same thing. We get news of Dreamworld hiring a new GM of Engineering for the park, and then 1 day later wipeout closes forever. Coincidence?

[$100m indoor water park, Dingley, Melbourne.]

Found another good article, which also linked to a detailed video rendering of the proposed park: https://theurbandeveloper.com/articles/pellicano-zagame-announce-plans-for-100m-water-park

It looks like White Water West will be the sole supplier of all slides and attractions. I'd always prefer to see a mix of suppliers, but I'm sure White Water quoted an enticing price for the whole package. The place looks like a gigantic local sports and aquatic centre. Very light on themeing, compared to other indoor/partially outdoor waterparks around the world (e.g. Kingdom Of Poseidon) 

 

[Dreamworld reduces operating hours]

23 minutes ago, Jamberoo Fan said:

Also, can anyone explain to me why the COO's name tag says 'Melbourne, Australia' on it? (See 47:56 in the video)

I believe the location is where the individual is from/born. I'm not sure how long this has been a thing though.

11 hours ago, AlexB said:

I'd rather the park close for 1 day a week, or operate on a reduced hours for the entire park during the week (with a cheaper day ticket available on those days) than to close well over half the park while still open for an hour or more.

^Agreed. They could have copied Disney. Have different operating hours everyday that are based off past attendance, and have tiered day ticket pricing to suit those operating hours or predicted 'busy days'. Having rides shut at different times, or rides operating on a ride rotation system is confusing and annoying for guests. It blatantly indicates they are trying to save money.

[The Off Topic Topic]

I found this to be a very informative video of the new RMC Raptor coasters. It delves deep into how RMC have designed/engineered the Raptor track, layout and trains in order to deliver a major thrill coaster at a fraction of the cost of a regular tubular steel thrill coaster - which is the ultimate purpose of the RMC Raptor product.

 

What was particularly interesting, is the reported cost of the coaster from the video creator. Probably should be taken with a grain of salt, but if that's true it would be the perfect coaster for up and coming aussie parks (e.g. Funfields).

[Sky Voyager Discussion]

1 hour ago, T-bone said:

My god the transition from the facade to the Green Bean facade is awful and jarring. 

What transition?

[Gumbuya World New Ride Announcement]

Looks like they just plonked it down in a free space, and stuck 'Gumbuya World' logos all over the ride 😕. Lazy and tacky. Certainly makes Gumbuya World look more like the melbourne show, than an up and coming theme park. Great ride, sad that it won't be on the travelling circuit for the foreseeable future.

[Sea World lighthouse - Star Flyer replacement]

1 hour ago, Jamberoo Fan said:

So what ride is everyone looking forward to this summer? SkyFlyer or SkyVoyager? 😜

I wonder how many people will forget which ride name relates to which Gold Coast theme park and/or what ride type.

It makes me wonder if VRTP just tried to make SW's new ride as similar to DW's new ride as possible without actually being the same ride.

^I've thought the exact same thing. This is definitely a planned move by VRTP to confuse the average themepark goer this summer. Very similar names, and similar riding position (suspended seat with legs dangling); it'll be easily confused by the general public. This ride is a quick competitive response to DWs SkyVoyager, which sort of explains why the ride is a portable model.

[Sky Voyager is Preparing for Take-Off at Dreamworld]

^ @Gold Coast Amusement Force I agree that WWW expansion and SkyVoyager aren't small improvements. Maybe my previous post reads badly. I meant to say: "It could be argued that this attraction, the WWW expansion, and other improvements (new paint at WWW), are being done to 'spruce up' the park in order to achieve a better outcome when it comes to the sale".

[Sky Voyager is Preparing for Take-Off at Dreamworld]

10 hours ago, Skeeta said:

It makes no sense to spend 17 million on a draw card attraction and build the same attraction in Sydney unless???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

 

unless.....Ardent have no interest in the future of Dreamworld, and are gearing up to sell it.

It could be argued that this attraction, the WWW expansion, plus other small improvements (new paint at WWW), are being done to 'spruce up' the park in order to achieve a better outcome when it comes to the sale.

[Sea World lighthouse - Star Flyer replacement]

@HussRainbow87 So is it a ride currently on the traveling circuit; where seaworld has made a deal with the owner/operator to run the ride at the park for a certain period of time?

Or did they buy a new 'Sky Flyer' type ride, that so happens to be a portable model (doesn't need to be anchored/concreted into the ground)?

[Fun Fields - New Wave Pool 2018]

[Fun Fields - New Wave Pool 2018]

Volcano Beach - Construction Update - 7/10/2018

I had a chance to visit the park over the weekend, and take some construction pictures of the new Volcano Beach wave pool. It was an absolute stunner of a day; beautiful 27 degree sunny day. Crowds were light, but more than I was expecting for the 2nd Sunday of the 2018/19 season. The grounds and gardens were in great condition; as always.

The wave pool is bigger than I expected. It's a big attraction for the park that will definitely be a hit. It''ll give guests an alternative 'home base' for their day; other than the shelter/bbq area and kids water playground.

I'm glad a compromise was found to keep the Go Karts. It's still a very popular attraction for families. The shorter course doesn't take anything away from the experience IMO. But I really would love to see some more theming around the track.

There is a lot of work still to do. But knowing the Funfields team, they will have it completed by December as advertised. Also, expect some high quality rockwork all around the Volcano Beach area. FF are using the same team who did the Voodoo rockwork.

 

[Fun Fields - New Wave Pool 2018]

Volcano Bay Beach opening in December. Fingers crossed the budget holds out and we see the Volcano rockwork 'waterfall' come to fruition. Also some nice lush landscaping and private cabanas would be nice.

[Theme Park Maintenance 2018]

@Jordan M. Thanks for the update. Any idea why only the first 4 rows on Arkham have had their min. height requirement changed? Is there any noticeable change to the harnesses and/or seats in those 4 rows?

[Falling Standards at Our Parks]

There's some fantastic posts in this topic! Cheers to all that have contributed. I agree with many of the posts, as I too have the same thoughts about MW and the GC parks.

The GC park's themed entertainment offering has stagnated for many years. Yes we have better mechanical rides then we did 10 years ago, but the themeing, customer service, overall showmanship, merch and shows are all at the same standard (if not a worse) than 10 years ago. I think this feeling of 'our parks are mediocre' is further exacerbated by seeing the current standard of themeparks overseas; which is constantly getting better and better, and is currently at such a high standard.

[Wild West Falls finally reopened!]

On 01/06/2018 at 12:39 PM, Mc coaster said:

I was there the week it reopened it was running all 8 seats the first three days and then after that they started only filling the front 6 seats.

I visited mw on the 17/4 (so not long after it's reopening). On that day the back row also wasn't in use. They filled the first 3 rows and left the 4th empty.

[Sling Shot Gold Coast moving to the Glitter Strip]

Love the idea. Will definitely bring in a lot more business (to the slingshot that is). Watching people launch is going to be a tourist attraction in itself. Fingers crossed the jungle waterfall and rock work theming for the launchpad gets built. 

The current Cypress Ave location isn't very appealing. The area lacks any type of landscaping/themeing/presentation, and is too far away from the main drag. Can't see it being a draw for families in its current state. 

Glad that the council got behind the business and gave it the thumbs up to to go into the cavil ave strip.

[Storm and Jet Rescue free locker hire]

^FINALLY! Extremely overdue. Praise the VRTP overlords.

[Adventure World 2018- improvements]

11 hours ago, Tim Dasco said:

But The Beast isint a Gyro Swing, it's a KMG XXL, Gyro Swing being a model type. Only Intamin call there Pendulem rides Gyro Swings.

I don't think the term 'gyro swing' is exclusive to Intamin. Sure Intamin may have coined the term 'gyro swing', but it's often used in the industry to describe a 'frisbee' / 'spinning pendulum' style flat ride - which is what the Beast and Goliath and the Claw and the Freak Out all are.